McEntee stunned by Sligo’s crumble
HOPE died here and it was left to Tony McEntee to reflect on how his team lost their way against Louth last Sunday.
McEntee tried to salvaged some solace from the debris. “We played very well in a lot of aspects during the first-half – in terms of our competitiveness, [winning] breaks, possession and scoring opportunities.” “Therefore, I was all the more surprised that the third quarter turned into such a massacre – and how we responded to that.” It was pointed out that Louth’s first goal – which levelled matters shortly after the restart – was a deflected shot from Sam Mulroy.
But McEntee wasn’t blaming ill-luck. “He [Mulroy] was after running 40 yards with the ball at the stage. We were unfortunate that the second goal came from a hop ball that they won.”
“But these things shouldn’t be happening. After these goals we stepped back and never looked like we were going to come back into the game.”
In his three games in charge so far, McEntee had seen some of the best and some of the worst that Sligo can produce. Against Louth, Sligo managed to be both enterprising and sloppy in the same fixture. “That is the frustrating part, isn’t it? We know there is more to this team and they can play good football when they get going – that was the case against Antrim and Leitrim.” “We had loads of positives but no progress [in terms of promotion]. Progress for us this year was to try to get into a Division 4 semi-final and trying for promotion.”
“We had an opportunity against Antrim and it didn’t work out for us and we had a good opportunity against Louth – but it wasn’t to be.”
Sligo have at least two more games to come in 2021 – a Division 4 Shield final against Wexford on Sunday week, June 13, and a Connacht GAA SFC semi-final against Mayo on Saturday, June 26.